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A Pretoria Boy by Peter Hain
A Pretoria Boy by Peter Hain
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The Story of South Africa’s ‘Public Enemy Number One’
Published August 1, 2021
280 pages, Paperback
234 x 154 x 27mm (L x W x T)
Condition: Very Good (Has very small/minor signs of wear). There no markings, inscriptions or signatures of any kind, pages are clean and vibrant.
Genres: Nonfiction / Biography / Political History / South African
This compelling narrative chronicles Peter Hain's remarkable fifty-year journey, tracing his evolution from anti-apartheid activist to esteemed member of the British Parliament. A Pretoria Boy offers a dramatic and insightful account of his life, spanning his formative years in apartheid-era Pretoria to his distinguished career as a senior British Cabinet Minister.
The book opens with Hain's pivotal role in exposing state capture and corruption within the Zuma administration in 2017-18, utilizing parliamentary privilege to bring these issues to international attention, notably in the New York Times and Financial Times. This action, fueled by information from an anonymous source, is posited as a contributing factor to Zuma's eventual removal from office.
The narrative then delves into Hain's childhood in Pretoria during the late 1950s and early 1960s, vividly portraying the oppressive atmosphere of apartheid. He recounts his parents' arrests, bannings, and harassment, his involvement in aiding an escaped political prisoner, the execution of a close family friend, and his family's forced exile to London in 1966.
The book details Hain's leadership of militant anti-Springbok demonstrations in London during 1969-70, which resulted in his denouncement as 'Public Enemy Number One' by the South African media. It further recounts his near-imprisonment following a South African government-backed prosecution for conspiracy in 1972, and his subsequent framing for a bank theft in 1975, orchestrated by an apartheid security agent. Hain's return to South Africa, first on a clandestine mission in 1989 and then as a parliamentary observer during the 1994 elections, is also documented.
Concluding with his informed perspective on South Africa's future, A Pretoria Boy provides a comprehensive and deeply personal account of a life dedicated to political activism and social justice.
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